FRANCE & SONNY GATT

of Malta

by Les Parkinson

The second loft to visit on the island of Malta this are those of France & Sonny Gatt who are a very good team indeed and have some good results to their credit. Once again these are fanciers that we met through our good friends on the island Freddie Micallef and his family who are also fanciers. Where we in the UK look for late June early July for the best races on Malta they are after the Christmas period, however because they race as an island they do have a lot of good races. Although it was France who we met the pigeons were a bigger interest for the younger member of the family Sonny whose name the National winner goes down to on the result from Catanzaro.

Evening out

Our first introduction to France Gatt was when we went for an evening meal in the company of his wife and Freddie & Connie Micalef of Mosta. When you first meet people from Malta you soon get the feeling that you have known them for a long time because they are more than pleased to talk to you straight away, there is no shyness. I soon got into conversation with France and we as is the case soon talking about anything and everything to do with pigeons. It was interesting to hear the views of France because he does have a few different ideas than others on the island that we have spoken too over the years. We were well pleased with this first meeting and have discussed getting a few eggs over to the island but like everything else it is more a case of everyone being in the right place at the right time.

The Lofts

In the Maltese lofts pigeons are always in abundance with this loft being no different however they do have plenty of room because they are behind the successful woodwork factory that the Gatt family own and run. They make a varied assortment of high quality garden furniture plus other types of furniture and all is made to a high standard, in fact one pigeon man went for a visit and imported some garden furniture for himself. Back to the birds behind the factory where it is not an ideal place to race pigeons because it is built up all around the lofts and there is no doubt the pigeons are not always going to be the best of trappers. Like many lofts in Malta the fronts are very open and also the loft is well off the floor with other birds below. The one problem with this loft is that it is confined between the buildings and again unlike many lofts on the island. This does not allow the best of airflow through the loft but with them being so open it is not too much of a problem. However this is when a good extractor fan could come into operation. The racing lofts at France's home are on top of their home and like most lofts are out of the way from neighbours in the garden next door. There is a small special loft against the house but the main loft as can be seen by the photo is brick construction with good louvers on the front, the loft accommodates both young and old birds. You would not think it but there was quite a discussion about heating in the loft, something that you would not expect in such a warm climate. Things are not always as they seem because you have to remember that racing in the Mediterranean is completed over the winter months because it is too much to expect the pigeons to contend with the continuous heat. This is where the heating comes into being because if you have visited Malta over the winter months you will know that it gets rather cold and damp at night after spending the day in the sunshine. Damp rises from the ground and France believes that this will knock the pigeons off form and a floor heating system would help maintain the form of the pigeons. These are conditions that you would need to be in to know what the benefits to the pigeons are or are not, you have to live in an area to know what is actually happen when you use any system. All ideas are good to someone and France does have a good point on heating for the Mediterranean fanciers and under floor heating that others may consider in the future. There was something that I saw which caused a bit of a laugh at first because Sonny uses modified paint cans with a perch on the front. The pigeons were quite happy to build their nests and breed in these tins, with not being there during the breeding season I would not know how this would affect the youngsters with the different temperature between day and night. The other point being how would lice or mite go on with a tin rather than the traditional wooden box.

The stock

This is an area where the Maltese fanciers are not as fortunate as some areas because the location does not make it easy to obtain new stock. But like all fanciers they find a way to bring in new introductions to try against their present winners. I suppose in a way the difficulty in changing their birds can be a benefit because we are all aware that fanciers are changing for the sake of change and many for whatever reason have ruined a good winning loft. France did point out that he had pigeons from both mainland Europe and the UK with success from both places. The Busschaert's have been a very popular and good pigeon on the island with France and Sonny achieving success from the imports. Several other lines have been tried over the years but they have failed to make the grade. Then along came the Ludo van Thyn pigeons proved a success pure and crossed very well with the Busschaert's that had been the main stay of the lofts for so long. All good fanciers are always looking to improve and who knows which will be the next strain to adorn these lofts.

Feed & Health

A major part of pigeon racing that lead's to both success and failure are feeding and the general health of the pigeons. There are and always will be fanciers who cannot hack the feeding system and fail to condition the pigeons for a specified event. In this loft nothing is made hard, it is as simple as possible, why make things hard for yourself when companies who have experts on hand already make mixtures for every event. Here they follow the simple system of feeding the mixtures as produced i.e. when they are breeding or when they are racing those are the mixes that are used. The use of medication has been under scrutiny in the UK and on the continent over the last few years and the use of it has been varied depending on your knowledge of such products. France does treat for such things as coccidiosis, worms and canker on a regular basis and finds that the system they use does keep the pigeons in good general health.

LJP . We would like to thank both fanciers for their time on this visit and we look forward to seeing them again at a future date.